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or all the Catfish fanatics out there this is a Cory that Corydoras enthusiasts find extremely popular and it quickly gets snapped up when appearing in the aquarist outlets. The reason is you don't find them all that often and despite the continuing onslaught of C and CW numbers it still has a place in our tanks and the challenges of trying to breed them.

Corydoras robineae

This is an easy species to identify due to the unique pattern in the caudal fin which it also shares with Dianema urostriatum from the Callichthyinae sub family. Not an easy species of Corydoras to breed, but it has been achieved (see ScotCat article in Reference).

Corydoras robineae is placed in Lineage 8 sub clade 4 which comprises the "intermediate long-snouts" with deeper bodies. It also includes Brochis in sub-clade 1 which was synonymised with Corydoras by Britto in 2003 but in time there will be a revision which will resurrect Brochis (Cope, 1871) to full genera again. To find out how the Lineage system works head through to the information page here

Dianema urostriatum - caudal fin pattern

Corydoras robineae was collected by Adolfo Schwartz and named after his wife, Robina. This cory comes from the upper Rio Negro entry region (Rio Aiuana) and it is suggested that because of their origin peat-filtered soft water might be more beneficial (Burgess 1992). It is also found in the the upper Rio Negro drainage, around the city of São Gabriel da Cachoeira.

Distrbution: Brazil, Upper Negro River basin. Type Locality: Rio Aiuana, a southern tributary of the middle Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil.

Flag-tailed Cory

None

Corydoradinae

South America: Brazil, Upper Negro River basin. Type locality: Rio Aiuana, a southern tributary of the middle Rio Negro, Amazonas, Brazil.

Male: 6.5cm (2¾ins) Female: 7.0cm (3ins)

22-26°C (71-79°F)

Elongated with short head.

Light silver grey, with sometimes a redish shimmer. Five rows of black blotches run backwards from the head and nearing the caudal fin. Caudal fin rays have five wide horizontal bands and are black and white in colour. Dorsal fin rays are banded black and white, forming two or three horizontal lines. The adipose fin has a black colouration on the upper edge. In the ventral and anal fins the black banding is almost unnoticeable. In the head region there are various black spots which may be joined together to form a mottled pattern.

This is akin to most of this genus, very peaceful, and would be best housed with small to medium tank mates such as Tetras, Rasboras and Danios or in a species tank for breeding purposes.

Not bred very often but you can read a breeding report by U.S. Aquarist Eric Bodrock in the articles section here. You can also read many more breeding tips on the Corydoradinae sub family here.

Females are slighly larger then the males and will show a widening just after the pectoral fins in the body. You can see this best by looking down on the body. For further identification, the ventral fins on the males will be pointed and the females are slightly rounded so to be able to cup the eggs to their ventrals while looking for a place to lay them.

A good quality flake food and tablet food for adults with sporadic feedings of frozen or live food will keep your Corydoras in good health.

Adipose fin: Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Anal fin: The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Caudal fin: Tail
Dorsal fin: The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Pectoral: The paired fins just behind the head.
Ventral fins: The paired fins, between the pectorals and the anal fins.

Corydoras: Cory = helmeted; doras = leathery skin,(helmeted Doras) cuirass.
robineae: This Corydoras is named in honour of Mrs Robina Schwartz.

Alexandrou, Markos & Taylor, Martin. (2011). Evolution, ecology and taxonomy of the Corydoradinae revisited.
Burgess, W.E., 1992. Colored atlas of miniature catfish. Every species of Corydoras, Brochis and Aspidoras. T.F.H. Publications, Inc., USA. 224 p.
Fuller, I.A.M. & Evers, H-G: 2005 Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish Ian Fuller Enterprises. 384 p
Ian A. M. Fuller & Hans-Georg Evers (2011). Identifying Corydoradinae Catfish Supplement 1. Ian Fuller Enterprises.
Lambourne, D. 1995. Corydoras Catfish – An Aquarist’s Handbook. Blandford, London, 128p.
ScotCat Article: Bodrock, Eric. Corydoras robineae
Seus, Werner, Corydoras. The most popular armoured catfishes of South America. Dähne Verlag, Ettlingen GmbH. 1993 218p.

Photo Credits

© Chris Ralph
Map: Google maps 2021